Former aides ordered to appear in court

A judge in New Jersey has ordered two former aides to Gov. Chris Christie to appear in court to explain their refusal to turn over potential evidence to a legislative committee investigating the politically charged closing of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge in September.

The legislative panel sued after the two aides — Bill Stepien, the governor’s two-time campaign manager, and Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff who sent an email calling for “traffic problems in Fort Lee” three weeks before the lanes were shut down, causing gridlock there — refused to comply with a subpoena seeking documents and electronic devices.

Lawyers for Kelly and Stepien have said the former aides are asserting their constitutional rights to privacy and against self-incrimination.

Christie fired Kelly and cut ties with Stepien in January, after documents revealed his office’s connection to the lane closings.

Judge Mary C. Jacobson of Superior Court in Mercer County, N.J., ordered Kelly and Stepien to appear in court on March 11.

YORK (AP) — A therapy dog who visits dying hospice patients in central Pennsylvania is fighting for his own life after being shot in his back yard in the middle of the night.Barney Fife is a 4½-year-old English bulldog who spends time with patients at Memorial White Rose Hospice in York.His owner Bill Buckingham says he let Barney in their fenced-in yard for a few minutes ar